Fallout
by CrescentHeart
Summary: Beck and Jade have been broken up for about a month when Jade discovers that she's pregnant. Will she be able to hide an abortion from everyone? **strong language and covers sensitive topics**
1. Chapter 1

Jade POV

Fuck. This is bad. This is really fucking bad. As I stand over the sink clutching it like it was a lifeline, I try to look anywhere but at that pink fucking plus sign. How the fuck did this happen? I mean I know _how _it happened but how did it happen? We used a condom every time; I made sure of it. Kids aren't exactly my favorite thing and I've got plans that don't fit with being a sixteen-year-old mom. A single sixteen-year-old mom at that, considering Beck and I have barely even looked at each other since the break-up.

Alright, I can fix this. I just need to look up what the abortion laws are for minors in California. I'd be a shitty ass mom if my parenting styles would resemble anything like my parents'. I'm not doing that to a kid, that's just cruel. Plus, there's no chance in hell my parents would support me through a pregnancy so even if I wanted to give it up for adoption I wouldn't be able to have the prenatal care required for the thing to be healthy.

Jesus Christ I don't think my computer has ever been so fucking slow to upload. Finally it loads and I click on a website that says I can fill out a form online and have it done without my parents needing to be there. Thank the fucking lord. As I'm filling out the online form I hear the doorknob to my bedroom twist signaling someone's entrance. I didn't know who the hell it would be since my mom was at a spa in Arizona and my dad was in London on a business trip for the rest of the week. These were normally the days when Beck would stay at my place since I felt bad that we always had to go to his RV for privacy. _Fuck stop thinking like that, that's how you got into this mess. _

"Yo Jade. What's good girl? I've been calling outside your door for like ten minutes but you weren't answering," Andre said as he pulled me from my thoughts. Damn. Ten minutes? I must be pretty out of it.

"Yeah I'm fine," I respond coldly. We just stared at each other silently for an awkward moment. "Is there something you need or do you just like scaring the shit out of me." Seriously I don't scare easily, I scare others easily. But after this past half hour I feel like I could go into cardiac arrest.

"Damn girl I was just looking for some of that nice French skin cream you've got."

"Are you sure you're far enough along in the sex change process for that?"

Andre smirked and walked further into my room. "Look, I'm meeting Hope's dad at her party tonight and I want to look good," he said leaning against my dresser.

I needed to be alone and figure this out. The sooner I got Andre out of here, the sooner that would happen. Pinching the bridge of my nose I said "Fine. Wait here and I'll get it." I got up and made sure to close my bathroom door behind me, suddenly remembering that my pregnancy test is still on the counter. I wrap it in like ten tissues and throw it in the trash. Then I go into my medicine cabinet, reaching behind my unused box of tampons, and grab my moisturizing cream. Upon closing the cabinet I look at myself in the mirror. _Suck it up, you've got no one to blame but yourself. You got yourself into this mess and you'll get yourself out of it too._ With a deep breath I open the door heading back into my bedroom. But instead of Andre leaning against my dresser where I left him, he is lounging on bed, staring at my now opened laptop with a shocked expression on his face. Fuck. My. Life.

Andre POV

Something is off with Jade. She was jumpy as fuck when I walked in and Jade is never jumpy. She's always confident and collected. I've never really seen her nervous. Whatever, it's not my business and if there's anything I know about this girl, it's that no one can force her to talk about something if she doesn't want to.

I decide to update my slap page while I'm waiting for Jade and reach for her computer. But as soon as I open it I realize why Jade seems so off. Holy Fucking Shit! I can't believe it! She's pregnant!

I'm about to barge into the bathroom and confront her when I see her looking at me, wide-eyed and terrified from the doorway of the bathroom.

I stand up from her bed and ask, "Are you pregnant?" She just stares at me blankly looking like she's trying to take deep breaths. "Are you pregnant?" I ask again walking towards her. Her breaths sound more labored now. God she looks so fragile right now. "Jade," I shout just trying to get some kind of response out of her. In that moment she sinks to the ground and starts sobbing. She's basically confirmed my thoughts but I need her to say it so kneel down in front of her and gab her face gently between my hands. "Jade, look at me" I say as sweetly and calmly as I can considering I'm watching one of my best friends who is also one of the strongest people I know actually break right before my eyes. Her ice blue eyes finally meet mine as tears continue to pour from them. "Jade are you pregnant?" She weakly nods her head yes. _Oh god, this poor girl. _

"But I can't be Andre. I can't do it. I can't be pregnant, I can't be a mom. I need to get rid of it. I have dreams I've been working towards my entire life. I know I'm selfish and horrible but I just can't do this," she cried hysterically.

Looking at her sympathetically I wrap my arms around her and rock her as she continues to cry. In part of my mind I know this is wrong. I'm more than happy to comfort her but Beck should be doing this, not me. But he's not here and I am and right now this girl needs someone. When her breathing starts to return to normal and the wet spots on m shirt feel a little drier I whisper in her ear, "Does Beck know?"

She takes in a shaky breath and answers, "No. Andre please don't tell him. No one knows and I don't want him feeling guilty or angry, or whatever."

Normally there isn't anything anyone could say that would make me keep a secret from my boy, but Jade is one of my best and oldest friends. She's practically my little sister and she's never asked me for anything in her life really. I don't think I could ignore her request when she sounds this scared and devastated.

I kissed her forehead and said, "Sure thing baby girl." I felt her relax into me further. "And if you want someone to go with, I'll be there for you."

"Thanks," she whispers. "Wait, what time is it?" she asks.

I check my phone and read the time. "Crap, it's almost seven o'clock."

"Shit," Jade exclaims standing up. "You're gonna be late for Hope's party and I'm supposed to meet up with Cat."

"Jade, I don't mind, I can stay here with you and talk this out."

"No really you've done more than enough already. Now go and impress that music producer. I'll be fine. Take the skin cream. I'm gonna go get ready." She was a little frantic and hasn't stopped moving since she got up. I can't really say I blame her though.

Before she got to far, I grabbed her arm to still her for a second. "I was serious before. I'm not gonna tell anyone and I will go with you to get it done. If you need me, call me alright?" I asked as I looked her in the eyes.

She gave me a rare genuine smile and hugged me. "Thank you. I don't know what I'd be doing right now without you. Now go, you're gonna be late."

I left her room and walked out of her house and into my car. Normally after some serious shit goes down the first person I call is Beck but that isn't an option so instead I drive off to Nozu for Hope's birthday. I'm trying to amp myself up for the song but in the back of my mind I'm thinking _Fuck. This is bad. This is really fucking bad. _


	2. Chapter 2

Jade POV

Shit I feel fucking terrible. Cat is crying right now because of me and the fact that I can't ever seem to do what I'm told. See, this is proof that I can't be a mother. _God, why the hell do I keep trying to justify this decision to myself?_ I was about to go over to Cat to try and comfort her, which I'm not really sure how to do since she's very touchy-feely and I'm well not. That was when I felt it. The entire house jolted and Robbie nervously asks, "What's happening?" I knew what it was even though for the first time in my life I really wanted to be wrong.

"Earthquake!" I shout. I mean we were in a house surrounded by glass and lots of hanging objects ready to fall on us. This was one of the prime places that in Los Angeles they would advertise as not wanting to be anywhere near during and earthquake. Yet here we were. Instinct took over as everybody looked for a place to hide. I jump to the couch and curl myself in a ball to shield my stomach and use a pillow to block my face. Yeah don't ask me why, if I'm planning on getting an abortion, that I would put so much effort into protecting whatever the hell this thing inside me is. Faintly in the background I can hear Beck shouting, "Okay, everybody down. Cover your heads!" I peak from behind my pillow to see him sheltering Cat. Part of me is happy to know that the debris won't crush one of my best friends in the world, who is subsequently slightly brain-dead already. Yet I can't help but feel slightly hurt that he didn't reach for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy he went for Cat because I can take care of myself and she can't. But a few weeks ago, reaching for me first would have been instinct and it's sad I guess knowing how much our relationship has changed.

I curl further in on myself, as the earthquake progresses just hoping it will end soon. Like I said before, I have no idea why but I feel the need to protect this thing just like Beck is protecting Cat. Fuck this is so messed up.

…

After we are able to blame the house damages on the earthquake I offer to give Cat a ride home so I can try and say sorry. She responds with a happy smile saying, "Ah yay! More Cat and Jade time together." I don't have the heart to give her the sarcastic response that's sitting on my tongue so instead I muster up a smile and say, "Mmhmm."

Once we start driving I decide to actually apologize rather than just making it up to her with a ride home. "Look Cat, I'm really sorry about almost getting you into trouble with your mom's boss. I should have listened to you and I hope you forgive me." I mean other than Andre she was my only real friend and cutting her off would be a bad idea on my part. Plus, hurting her is like watching those freaking commercials with those damn three legged puppies; it's just cruel.

"Ahh Jadey! Of course I forgive you. And thanks for helping me dog sit tonight. I will never forget it," she replied happy as ever as she twirled a piece of her hair. That's one of the amazing things about Cat; she doesn't hold grudges and always just assumes the best in people. That's both commendable and incredibly fucking annoying about her but what can I say, I love the girl like a sister.

After I drop Cat off and make my way home I see a car sitting in my driveway. It's a dark blue Honda that I know is Andre's. He runs out of his car to meet me as I'm walking up my driveway.

"Holy shit thank god your okay!" he says as he's running.

"Yeah, same to you. How'd the performance go?"

"It was amazing," he gushed. "I've never felt that good performing. And her dad really liked me. Gave me a card and everything," he smiles proudly.

"Andre that's incredible!" I hug him.

"Yeah yeah enough about me. How are you? Are you okay? Did anything happen with the baby?"

"Unfortunately no." Even as I said it, it sounded harsh though.

"Listen Jade this is totally your decision and I said I would help you out no matter what, but are you sure about this abortion? I mean what about adoption? Or, I don't know, maybe keep it? I know you say you don't want kids but you keep grabbing at your stomach protectively and you just sound less and less sure about it." I looked down and noticed that I had my arms wrapped protectively around my torso. I snap my arms to my side instantly. "All I'm saying is, I would hate for you to rush into this and end up regretting it."

Everything he was saying was making sense but after the stress of today I just couldn't handle actually hearing the truth. So instead I do what I always do; I snapped. "Oh well excuse me for not sounding totally fucking thrilled about having to deal with this. I don't want to raise a kid at all, let alone by myself. I mean God you should have seen Beck during the earthquake. He didn't give two shits about me. He left me trying to cover myself and his fucking 'baby' with a pillow while he literally used himself as a shield to protect Cat. And yeah I get that he doesn't know about the pregnancy but the only reason I would even consider not getting rid of this is because Beck really wanted a family with me. But guess what? We broke up and he doesn't give a damn about me anymore. I'm not gonna tie him to me for the rest of our lives because of a fucking mistake!"

Andre looked at me with pity, which I fucking hate more than anything else in the world. I didn't need his pity I just needed him to accept my decision like he said he was going to. He gave a deep sigh and said, "I'm not gonna preach to you cause god knows that will do nothing," smirking slightly and lightly jabbing my arm. I smirked back. "You've had a long day. Why don't you go inside and fill out that online thing for the clinic and I'll take you at their next available date so we can put this all behind us?"

I just shook my head and walked inside. The house was still dark and empty. Just the way I'd left it. I make my way upstairs to my bedroom and open my laptop to the online form just where I had left it. I fill out all the information and send it in. It says I should get a confirmation email in about an hour giving me the day and time of the appointment. While I'm waiting I decide to check out the damage in my house. Some chairs are knocked over and pictures fell off the walls but lucky for me the earthquake seemed to hit hard further north. After I straighten up downstairs I head back to my room and get ready to take a quick bath. That's when I spot the broken glass on the floor. It only takes me a second to realize what it is but when I do a little part of me breaks. For our first anniversary, Beck gave me a one-of-a-kind hand blown glass necklace. It was a black rose with red detailing. Or it was. Now it's a broken pile of glass with some black string. How was that the only thing to break in my house during the earthquake? I know we're broken up but that was one of my favorite possessions. It was so beautiful and unique. It reminded me why I loved him. Maybe it's fitting that it's broken beyond repair then. No, I refuse to let myself feel sad over anything involving Beck anymore so I scoop up the shards and throw them in the trash.

I make my way over to the bath to try and relax a little bit but I'm so wound up and uncomfortable that I only stay in for a little over fifteen minutes before I get out frustrated. I pull on some boy shorts and a long sleeve top and make my way over to my bed where I grab my computer again. The clinic emailed me back saying that they had an available date at 3 o'clock next Saturday. I shoot out a quick email to confirm it before turning off my computer. I decide to text Andre too to give him the details

From: Jade

To: Andre

We can officially put this behind us next Saturday at 3 o'clock. That work for you?

Seconds later Andre responds

From: Andre

To: Jade

Sounds good to me baby girl. If you're sure, I'm sure ;)

I smile to myself slightly before turning off the lights and crawling into bed. As I lay there looking at my ceiling I think about how almost everyone I ever openly showed love to has completely left or hurt me. My parents, Beck, who's to say this baby wouldn't be exactly the same as the rest of them? I'm doing a good thing. I've worked too hard and given up too much to ruin it now. God stop fucking justifying it to yourself. You've made your decision now fucking move on.

I barely slept that night. I kept waking up with sounds of crying babies in my ears, hearing my parents call me a tramp and telling me to get out, Beck saying I did it on purpose and that it wasn't his. It was a string of nightmares that didn't exactly do anything to relax from yesterday. By the time I woke up that morning I had a bad headache and stomach pains, I guess from morning sickness or some pregnancy bullshit. God I can't wait till that ends. The constant puking, weird food cravings, and mood swings on top of my normal mood swings was less than fun.

I was getting ready to make myself a pot of coffee when I heard a knock on the door. It was Cat. What the hell she was doing at my house at 8 in the morning I had no idea. I opened my door to be greeted by my overly peppy little redheaded friend.

"Hi Jade," she chirped. "My mom's boss came over last night after you dropped me off to give me my jacket that I left at his house only I realized I don't own a leather jacket so then I figured out that it was yours so here you go," she said holding out the jacket I had been wearing last night.

I was having a hard time hearing her since these stomach pains were getting so bad I felt like I was gonna throw up right there. "Uh thanks." I grabbed the jacket with one hand while I grabbed the wall of my house for support with the other.

"Anyway I need to go pick up my brother's medicine so I'll see -" she stopped mid sentence and looked down embarrassed. "Um Jadey? I think your friend is here."

I really didn't feel well enough to deal with her indirectness so I aggregately asked, "What friend Cat? You and I are the only ones here."

"You know, that special friend girls have that comes around once a month…" she said pointing to my lower half.

I looked down and surely enough my shorts and legs were covered in blood.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note:_ Wow I don't even know what to say. Firstly, I am soooooo sooooooo soooooo sorry this took literally forever to post. I just started college and it's taken some time to get into things here and unfortunately my writing took a back seat. Plus, I had a bit of writer's block. I was able to write like 4 chapters that will take place after this, but I couldn't figure out a good transition. Lame excuses, I know. Secondly, thank you so much for all of your comments. They seriously make my day. I'm still so new to this so knowing people like it really motivates me. Anyway that's enough from me. Please enjoy this long awaited update. 3

Jade POV

I swear I felt my heart stop. After this past week I would have thought nothing could surprise me anymore. Well this just proved I should stop assuming things.

"Oh, I must have forgot. I'm going to go shower. See you later. Thanks for the jacket," I lied smoothly. Acting has always come easy to me so that's what I was thinking of this as: a sick-twisted acting exercise. I shut the door on Cat and ran to the full-length mirror in my bathroom. My shorts were unrecognizably red as were the tops of my thighs. In that moment I felt myself switch into autopilot mode. I was doing things without thinking and without emotion.

I threw off my clothes and jumped into the shower to rinse the dried blood off of me. It was weird how detached I felt from the whole situation. You'd think I would be panicking but I guess I'm sort of in denial or something. I mean it's possible that this is my delayed period and the test was a false positive. That shit happens, right? But based on my recent luck I doubt that's what it is. I decide to just rip the Band-Aid and call the clinic to schedule an emergency appointment.

_An hour later…_

After what feels like a fucking eternity, the doctor finally comes in with the results from my blood work. "Hello Miss West. I'm Dr. Larson." _Please go a little slower at opening that file. I love sitting here while you take your sweet ass time. _"So you're here today because of a possible discrepancy as to whether you've had a late period or a miscarriage?" At that moment she looks at me to confirm the information the nurse that did my blood work passed to her.

"Yeah. I was about two months late so I took a home test that said I was pregnant. But then I had some cramping last night and this morning I woke up with heavy bleeding."

"Alright then. I'm sure you're anxious so let's just take a look at what this says." Her eyes scan the file, flipping through pages. "Your blood is showing high levels of the pregnancy hormone HCG. If you don't mind, I would like to run an ultrasound."

Next thing I know I'm lying in a gown on top of a table while the doctor is basically fucking violating me with those freaking medical tools. "That right there is the gestational sac," she says pointing to the screen. "Now the sac itself is the correct size for a woman roughly eight or so weeks into the pregnancy. But there is no embryo present here." She pulls the instrument out. "Based on that and your levels of hCG I can confirm that you did in fact experience a miscarriage. I know this must be hard to hear. They can happen for any number of reasons: chromosomal defects in the embryo, poor health, stress. Fortunately, you had a complete miscarriage so your risk of infection is minimal." She gets up and reaches for a pamphlet, which she then hands to me. "This is some literature on miscarriages. It explains them a bit more and has numbers for support groups. I'm sorry dear," she says as she gets up and exits the room leaving me speechless. The word just keeps ringing over and over in my ear: miscarriage. I should be happy right? I mean I wanted to get rid of it and now I don't even have to have the procedure. So why do I feel sick to my stomach? I run to the sink in the office and vomit into it. What's wrong with me?

_The next day at the Asphalt Café during lunch …_

Andre POV

I've been trying to talk to Jade all day but I can't seem to get a minute alone with the girl. It's almost like she's avoiding me. I obviously can't ask her about it now. Me, Jade, Tori, Cat, Robbie, and Beck are all sitting together and Tori's going on about something Trina did. Usually I get a kick out of hearing her complain about her sister but knowing what Jade is going through silently, makes me feel like Tori's bitching is insignificant. Jade seems to feel the same way because she looks ready to blow.

"…and I was like 'Trina, you can't replace my usual alarm clock with a recording of you singing.' And she was all…" apparently Jade had hit her limit because before Tori even finishes her sentence Jade loses it.

"Oh my god shut up! Who the hell fucking cares? Your biggest issue in life is that you have an annoying sister? Cry me a fucking river and grow up." She gets up and stomps away from the table throwing her uneaten lunch in the trash. Damn those pregnancy hormones are a bitch.

"Okay that was totally uncalled for," Tori says. "I don't know what her issue is but she's acting more pissed off than usual."

"Don't mind her," says Cat. "Her 'friend,'" she puts air quotes around the word friend, "just got here. My doctor says that can make you like super mad."

"Cat, she's probably just in a bad mood. I don't think she's PMS-ing," Beck says. I feel awkward being the only one knowing what's really going on with Jade.

"No she definitely is. I saw her yesterday and she had forgot what day it was and she was like covered in it. It was really gross," Cat says making a face at the memory.

That can't be right. I saw the test. Unless…before I can come to a real conclusion, the bell rings signaling the end of lunch. I speed off to go find Jade but it's harder than I thought it would be. If nothing else, she knows how to avoid having conversations she doesn't want to have. But luckily I also know that there is one place she usually goes to escape. I walk into the janitor's closet and sure enough there she is, with her back against the wall banging her head into it. She opens her eyes at the sound of the door closing behind me.

I decide to play dumb since the last thing I want to do that this point is to scare her off. Besides who knows how reliable Cat actually is and I don't know anything for sure.

"How those hormones treating you?" I ask. That earned me one of her infamous death stares but other than fury there was something else there too. I couldn't exactly place it because it was so foreign to her face but it almost looked like she was empty, hollow. "Look I know I really know nothing about what's going on with you but maybe you should think about going to counseling or something."

"Yeah cause sitting around and talking about my feelings to a complete stranger who is only there to get paid a ridiculous amount of money sounds like a blast. Really Andre, you know me so well it's scary."

"Look Jade, what you're dealing with might be too big for you to handle on your own. I can try to help you the best I can but I don't know what the hell I'm doing here. There's gotta be like pregnant teen support groups somewhere in LA."

"Yeah I don't think that's really gonna help me at this point," she mumbled.

"What?" I asked. I might be able to get her to tell me what's going on if I just probe a little further. I know she's already told me more than she's told anyone else but I know she's still hiding something. "Alright. Cat said something at lunch that I want to ask you about. She said she visited you yesterday and that you were covered in blood. What is that about?" I asked gently.

At that moment her eyes sort of glazed over. "After I had texted you the date of my appointment, the clinic called and said they had a sudden opening. I decided to just get it over with so I went. I had some bleeding the next day when Cat came over, which according to the doctors is totally normal."

So that's why she was acting so much weirder. She had already had the procedure. "Oh. Why didn't you just tell me? I still would have driven you."

"It was getting too complicated so I just decided to take care of it myself. I was going to text you but I guess I forgot."

"Understandable. You've had a lot on your plate," I said. She shook her head in agreement. "Well, I guess we can move on from this then. I mean you can still feel free to talk to me about it. Like are you alright?"

"Yeah Andre I'm fine. Apparently mood swings are a common side effect. I mean this is what I wanted so as soon as these fucking hormones die down I can appreciate the fact that I can officially be done with this mess."

"Alright then," I say. "Come here." I grab her and pull her into a tight hug. I press a kiss to the top of her head and just hold it there. Jade is strong, stronger than anyone I know. But that doesn't mean she doesn't need to be taken care of sometimes. This is basically my little sister here and I would do anything to protect her. Before I can pull away, I hear a throat clear behind me. I pull my lips away from Jade's head and let go of her.

God must have it out for this girl because the person standing in the doorway in none other than Mr. Beck Oliver and he is pissed.

"Sorry to interrupt," he says in a mildly disgusted tone. "Sikowitz sent me to look for you considering the bell rang almost 20 minutes ago. You can continue whatever the hell this is later but we're going over partner scenes now." With that he storms out of the closet and back towards the classroom we should be in.

…And this continues to be bad…really fucking bad.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: _So…It's been a while…I'm really sorry about the delay. Finals had me distracted for weeks but good news- I'm officially on Christmas break so I decided to write an extra long chapter to make it up to you guys. Plus, I've got some really great ideas for where I want the story to go. Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy 

**Beck POV**

I rush ahead of Jade and Andre and pace in front of Sikowitz's door waiting for them to catch up. Or maybe I'm just trying to calm down. I need to talk to her. It's been weeks and we've barely spoken but I can't just ignore what she's doing. Andre has been friends with Jade just as long as he's been friends with me so I never would have asked him to pick between us after the break up…but there was something just too intimate about their embrace.

They rounded the corner and I could just see Andre pulling his arm away from around Jade's shoulders. This angered me further but why I don't know. Jade was free to do whatever the hell she wanted. Maybe it's because it's Andre. Now isn't the time to analyze my sudden outburst though. Now is the time to go back into class and start the lesson that was delayed because Jade and Andre are fucking sneaking around behind people's backs. Wait what? Where the hell is this coming from? Fuck it. Class now, figure this shit out later. I walk into Sikowitz's classroom and take my seat again followed by Andre and then Jade. Andre mumbles a quick "Sorry," before sitting.

"Well, now that we're all in attendance," Sikowitz pauses to give an exaggeratedly pointed look to both Andre and Jade, "let us begin our lesson. You have all moved beyond depending on yourselves and your individual commitment to pull off monologues. It's time to move on to one of the most difficult aspects of acting. It's time for partner scenes. Doing a scene with just two people can be very challenging. You must both stay fully focused and committed to the scene in order for it to work. For this assignment, I will split you up into boy-girl pairs and give you a genre to portray. You will then improv a scene for the class later this week. I don't want you to memorize a script. You may come up with a premise but the rest should be very organic. I want you to invest in whatever direction this scene takes completely. Now let's have a little demonstration." Sikowitz pauses to stare at all of us while stroking his chin. "Jade," he finally says. Her eyes, which were dazed before, snap up to glare at Sikowitz.

"What?" she says annoyed. I look over to her. I hadn't really looked at her in the closet before. Everything just got kinda blurry. Now that I can fully see her, I notice that something is off. She seems paler. Her eyes, which were always my favorite part of her, didn't hold the same energy they normally did. It was almost as if they had dulled. She's also rubbing her stomach like she's trying to soothe it. It's a small gesture but enough for me to notice it. Maybe she's sick and trying to hide it or something.

"Get on stage," he says. She sighs and gets up from her chair and moves over to the classroom's makeshift stage at the front of the class. "Since we have limited time due to the delay in class starting, I'm just going to use a pair that I know works." He paused and turned towards me. Fuck. "Beck. You. On stage. Now." I could see Jade silently cursing Sikowitz from where she was standing. But I'm training to be a professional so I stood up and joined my ex-girlfriend. "Your genre is romance." Jade seriously looked like she was contemplating walking out of class. "And….go."

It's silent for a while. This could be my chance. She has to talk to me now. This isn't really the time to air our dirty laundry to the class but it's not like most of them even know what we're talking about. They would think this whole scene is made up. Tori, Cat, Robbie, and Andre know almost everything about us anyway.

I decide to just go for it and see what happens. "What happened to us?" I start.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she says with her back to me.

"Don't give me that crap." I walk up right behind her. "You know what I'm talking about. I mean how could we go from not being able to get enough of each other, from spending virtually every waking minute together, to not being able to be in the same room together?"

"We were kids when we started dating. We thought we knew everything there was to know about love. We were wrong, we knew nothing about it," she says turning around to face me. "It's best if we just move on. We're not kids anymore. We can't live under those same delusions."

"Stop doing that," I said angrily.

"Doing what?"

"Devaluing our relationship," I snap. "We spent three goddamn years together. I know you better than anyone else in the world, just like you know me." I step closer to her. "I know why you have the scar by your hip bone, I know that you play a lullaby to help you go to sleep, I know where to kiss you to make your entire body shiver," I say in a husky voice. I can see her swallow because if there was a doubt in her mind before that this was just acting, it's gone now.

"What? You want some kind of fucking award for that? For being the only person I've really let into my life just so you could fuck me over? You left without even really trying! So don't play the victim card alright?"

Was she serious? "Don't tell me I didn't try," I growl angrily. "I did literally everything I could think of to fix us but something had changed. That doesn't mean my feelings about you changed."

"Then why did you let me go?" she asks sounding heartbroken. There is a gleam in her eyes as they gloss over. To most people, that would be a sign of witnessing true emotion. But not Jade. This is how I know she's back to making this a scene. The only time I've ever seen her eyes do that is when she's in the middle of a play. Maybe she's right to do that though. This is supposed to be a romance scene, not a drama and there's really only one way for romance scenes to end.

"Because I'm an idiot," I say approaching her again. I gently cup her face and look into her eyes. "But I'm not about to make the same mistake twice."

"Just don't hurt me again," she whispers. "I don't think my heart can take it." Damn she's good. Fine, I guess it's time for the finale and we both know what to do next. It's been months but something tells me we'll fall back into it pretty easily. I gently press my mouth to hers and she kisses back. It may only be for show, but fuck I've missed this. The kiss is quickly turning more longing and passionate. I wrap my arms around her waist and she wraps hers around my neck. Before we can get too carried away Sikowitz clears his throat. We break away and step away from each other as the class claps for us.

"Very good. You two were very dedicated. There were no awkward pauses. It flowed very nicely. Actually, I'm going to keep you two as partners. I'd like to see how you two handle a dramatic scene."

"Lucky me," Jade says sarcastically as she makes her was back to her seat.

"Tori and Andre, you will be doing a horror/ suspense scene. Robbie and Cat will do comedy. Shruggers, I'm not totally sure if any of you even talk. Therefore, you may pick your own partners if you are not mute." The bell rings and Jade books it out of the classroom immediately. Everyone else packs up to leave. Andre comes up to me and I know what he's gonna say.

"Look man, I know what you're thinking but nothing is going on with me and Jade. She's having a rough time right now. You and I are the two people she's known the longest. Are you really that surprised that she would come to me first after everything?" I guess that makes sense but I still wanna know what's going on with her.

"Yeah, no it's cool. I guess it was just a weird to see and I jumped to a conclusion. My bad."

"It's all good. I would have reacted the same way if I was in your spot. I gotta go though. Tori and I are gonna figure out the background for our scene. See ya," he says walking out of the room.

Shit. I'm gonna have to try to figure that out with Jade. I'll be able to get her to talk to me. Even if she was acting by the end, she was definitely being honest at some point during our scene. That reminds me though. Was that her when she said she didn't think I tried, or was that her 'character?' I was downright desperate by the end of our relationship to get it to go back to the way it used to be. I remember the moment when I though that just maybe we would be able to do that.

_**~Flashback~ **_

_ Beck and Jade we on their way into Jade's room. Both of her parents were gone yet again so there was no one around to hear their latest argument. They had been going off on each other more than usual this week. It had reached its height today after Sinjin awarded them 'The Worst Couple.' _

_ "Guess what Jade? It's later so were gonna talk about this."_

_ "Why? What the fuck is focusing on this gonna do to improve our relationship? You fucking screamed to a group of people we don't even know that you weren't happy with our relationship. No fucking Duh we're going to be deemed 'The Worst Couple.' Do you even get how embarrassing that was? If you're really that unhappy then just get the fuck out. I'm not keeping you here against your will. You wanna go? Go!" _

_ But that's not what he wanted. It's not what either of them wanted. To prove it Beck grabbed Jade by the shoulders and crashed his lips to hers locking her in an intimate embrace. Jade gave in for a second before breaking away. _

_ "Stop. You can't just kiss me and think that's gonna fix everything." Beck was at a loss. He didn't know what to do and the idea of losing what he had with this girl terrified him. It terrified her just as much, though she would never admit she depended on someone else for anything.  
Beck let his forehead drop to her chest keeping his tight grip on his shoulders. "Jade I don't know what else to do. Please. Let's just make things how they used to be." Though they both knew it wasn't that simple, the desperation in Beck's voice frightened her into being willing to try anything. She cupped his cheek with her hand and brought his lips back to hers. They never broke apart as they made their way over to her bed. Beck hovered over her as he gently pushed her body into the mattress. When they finally came up for air Jade pulled off Beck's tee shirt and allowed her hands to roam over his torso feeling each crevice from his sculpted abs. Beck started kissing Jade's neck as he reached for the bottom of her top. Jade sat up to allow Beck to take it off of her. They laid back down and resumed kissing. _

_This kissing was different than what the had been doing for the past few weeks. Lately every time they had sex it was frenzied and rough. This time, they were going to go slow and take their time with each other. Beck, still kissing her neck, moved his hand over her bare torso, down her thighs to her core where he gently started massaging her over her tights. Jade's breathing hitched as she wasn't used to this gentle of a touch. They hadn't been this careful with one another since they lost their virginities. She began to breathe more heavily letting out the occasional whimper._

_Jade then moved to the next step where she removed his belt and unzipped his jeans pushing them down his legs. Beck stops what he's doing to kick his pants and boxers off before returning to Jade. He slips her skirt off of her and unrolls her tights from her body leaving them both completely naked. He resumes his place on top of her and kisses her lovingly on the lips. His "J" necklace is resting on Jade's chest and she rolls it around in her slender fingers. Beck then takes her hand and interlaces her fingers with his own. With one more kiss he lines himself at her entrance and slowly pushes into her. This is actually a recreation of the first time they had sex. Only this time they aren't nervous fourteen year olds. They know each others bodies as well as they know their own. It takes no time at all for them to fall into a synchronized rhythm. _

"_Beck. Oh God. Please," she moans. _

"_What baby? Tell me what you need," he says as he continues to hit her deeper and deeper. _

"_You. More. Now," she says as her breathing continues to escalate. _

_They flip over so that Jade is on top now. With their slow speed and this new angle, this is the deepest he's ever been inside her. And based on their uncontrollable moans, they can both feel it. It soon becomes too much for them and Jade is arching her back as their hips start to move faster. Beck pushes himself into a sitting position so they are face to face. He wraps his arm around her lower back as she tangles her hands in his hair. They can both feel that they are reaching an end. They maintain eye contact as they finish at the same time. Beck and Jade still intertwined in each other lay down on Jade's bed and Beck takes Jade's burgundy throw blanket and wraps them up in it. They are facing each other as they try to get their breathing back under control. _

"_This is how it's supposed to be," Beck says as he kisses Jade's forehead. Time was lost after that as they just stayed there looking at each other, stroking the other's cheek, offering a tender kiss. This was the most content they'd felt in a long time. _

_They broke up the next day. _

It still hurts to think about that night. I was so sure that things would change after that. I don't know why though. It's not like we worked through any of our problems. But, that was the last time we had had sex and if I'm being honest, it was the best sex of our relationship. In three years, no other time could touch that. We took every ounce of love and passion we'd held for each other over the past three years and put it into that moment. Now look at us. They only time we can really communicate is when we're supposed to be doing a scene. And if Andre is right, and Jade is going through something, I hate that I'm not the first person she's going to. I used to be the only person she'd go to. Just because I couldn't handle constantly fighting with the person I loved more than anyone or anything else in the world doesn't mean I don't care about her. I've got to find a way to talk to her alone. I hear footsteps come up behind me and I know they belong to a girl. Hoping it's Jade I turn around but instead I find Tori.

"Oh hey," I say sounding slightly dejected.

"Hey," she says. "Sorry to disappoint."

Realizing how it sounds I instantly feel bad. "No, I'm sorry. It's just," before I can finish Tori does it for me.

"It's just that you were hoping it would be Jade?"

"Sort of," I say. "I mean this is the most we've spoken since we broke up. If we're gonna do another scene together I feel like we should talk or something. The only issue is, is that Jade specializes in avoiding conversations she doesn't want to have." This conversation about the scene reminds me of something. "Hey I thought you and Andre as supposed to be rehearsing."

"Yeah that's sort of why I'm here. We were supposed to hang out and figure out our background story and stuff but he ran into Jade. He asked if they could have a minute alone so I figured I should see if anyone is still around." She pauses and looks like she's debating something in her mind. "Look, this probably isn't any of my business but has Andre ever talked to you about Jade?"

"Not really. I mean I would ask his advice sometimes but they're basically brother and sister so I kept the details on our relationship to a minimum."

"Okay well I've noticed a change in their relationship. It started around the earthquake. He's constantly looking over at her and when we all stand in a group, they stand _really_ close together. It's like he's protecting her or something. And she leans towards him a lot and stuff. I don't know." There's something she's not telling me.

"Spit it out Tori."

"Um okay so last year when Andre and Jade recorded that song together? Yeah, well Andre sort of had this huge crush on her. He was saying that he thought he might be in love with her but that he would never move in on a friend's girlfriend. I'm just saying that now that you're not dating, maybe he's decided to make a move. I know that you guys are best friends and I don't want this to come as a surprise to anyone so I figured I'd tell you."

Fuck. God fucking damn it. I knew he was lying to me about Jade. "Thanks for telling me. I think Jade and I need to have a conversation," I say as I walk out of the room into the empty hallway. Empty, that is, except for Jade and Andre. "Hey," I say. Jade and Andre both jump at the sound of my voice as before they were standing very close whispering very intently about something. "So Jade, we should probably figure out a background story for our scene."

"I don't think that's necessary. We did just fine today with no prepping," she says.

"Our genre is drama and unless you wanna risk the whole class hearing about our private lives, I think we should come up with a story beforehand." Jade's an incredibly private person so I knew she couldn't refuse.

"Fine. I'll text you a story," she says and turns to leave. Now with just Andre and me in the hall, there is an awkwardness that never used to be there now that I know the truth. Apparently Andre can sense it too because he mumbles something about needing to work on his scene and leaves. I'm done with people avoiding these conversations. I'm gonna talk to the both of them whether they're comfortable or not.


End file.
